


before we start

by litra



Category: For the People (TV 2018)
Genre: Aromantic, Coming Out, F/F, LGBTQ Character, Podfic Welcome, Relationship Talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2019-05-27 15:02:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15027188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/litra/pseuds/litra
Summary: Kate needs to make something clear from the start.Or Kate tells Anya she is Aromantic.





	before we start

The kiss is good. It's been long enough that Kate has no trouble leaning into it, savoring the touch. Her blood is up from the shooting and Anya is pressed against her back, arms around her waist. It would be so easy to fall into this kind of thing. The whole day has been leading up to it, but...

Kate pulls back, bites her lip. She looks down at her hands, checking the safety of the gun in on before setting it aside. She turns in Anya's hold, not trying to get away but shifting back slightly when she leans in for another kiss.

"I like you," Kate said.

Anya paused, leaning back. Her arms fall away, and Kate moved to catch her hand before she could pull back entirely.

"It sounds like there's a but at the end of that sentence," Anya said. Her expression had closed off, preparing herself for disappointment probably.

Kate nodded, "But, you have the right to know what you're getting into with me."

Hope, a small smile, tugged at Anya's mouth. She squeezed Kate's hand, "If you're still closeted that's fine with me."

Kate shook her head, "It's not quite..." She stopped biting her lip. A glance around revealed a bench and Kate took the three steps to sit. Anya followed now looking more puzzled then anything else.

Kate took a breath, ordered her thoughts and faced Anya straight on. "I am Aromantic. I'm not in the closet but I don't spread it around because most people, even people in the queer community, do not acknowledge or understand what that means." She paused for Anya to nod but the other woman didn't seem to have anything to say so Kate went on.

"I like you. You are strong, and smart and I am definitely attracted to you physically." Kate felt her cheeks grow warm, but charged on without stopping, "If you're interested in a one night thing, I can do that. If you're looking for a friend to hook up with we can see where that goes, but if you're interested in dating me you have the right to know up front that I will never, can never, love you romantically." 

Anya nodded slowly. She wasn't looking at Kate, rather her eyes were focused down the range where there were still a set of targets set up. "I do want to date you. Today was great and..." She blinked several times, shaking her head a little, "Aromantic is on the asexual scale right?" 

"In a way. The asexual scale is how much or little someone is interested in sex. The aromantic scale is how easily someone falls in love. It's actually closer to demi-romantic, but a lot of people lump aromantic and asexual together int he LGBT community."

"So you're saying that you're not interested?"

Kate shook her head quickly. "Not at all, I am very interested, physically and you seem like you could be a very good friend. I can be your friend, I can listen and support you, I just can't love you."

Anya stood and took a step forward then stopped with her hand over her eyes. It wasn't the worst reaction Kate had ever had, but then it was hard to top her mother bursting into tears at the thought of her little girl never having a princess style happily ever after. 

After a moment and a deep breath Anya turned around and dropped her hand. "I'm sorry, this is not what I was expecting."

Kate nodded, "yeah, I'm sorry for ruining the mood, but I've found it's better to get it out in the open at the start."

"I--" Anya broke off. "I guess I don't know what to do now."

Kate pursed her lips and took a chance, "all flirting and chemistry aside, do you love me?" 

Anya opened her mouth, then hesitated.

"You can't love me, not this soon. You don't know me. Even if you though you were in love it would only be an idea not me, not a real person." Kate stood. She wanted to take Anya's hands but she didn't know if it would be accepted. "Maybe you'll fall in love, maybe you won't. Maybe we try it out and find that you can't stand the way I organize my life and I can't stand your taste in movies. Maybe one day the fact that I can't love you romantically will be a breaking point or maybe it won't. If you say it's a breaking point right now, I will accept that."

Anya slowly smiled, "So what you're saying is you'll date me but since you're queer it'll affect the relationship?"

Kate assessed the statement and nodded, "That is accurate, yes."

Anya let out a soft laugh, "Okay. Let's try it. I'm already used to dating lesbians. Now you can teach me about aromantic lesbians, and we can see where it goes."

Kate smiled, relaxing not that the worst was over for the moment. She reached for Anya's hand, "Bisexual actually, and I'd be happy to."

"So," Anya said looking Kate over, "Where does that leave us?"

Kate stepped into Anya's space again, "Well I think we were in the middle of something, we could go back to that."

Squeezing Kate's hand, Anya pulled her in for another kiss. "My place or yours?"

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I am Aromantic and it is rare that I ever see myself in characters so when Kate showed up on screen and did her thing I was floored. I know if this were a bigger fandom we'd be seeing all kinds on interpretations of Kate's sexuality. This is how I see her.


End file.
